Need some clear answers please

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Anonymous

#302733 Mon, 11 Dec 06 09:22 AM

Please tell me why the underlined vegetables are written differently in that to me, most of them are variable nouns. Here in a menu sheet, a menu item can be explained in their 'abstract and boundless' form because we are not using to mention any specific instances or types of it but rather referring to it generally in its 'abstract and boundless' form, in my opinion. But how come some variable nouns are in their abstact and boundless forms and some are not when all (as they seem) of them are variable in nature?

CALIFORNIA GARDEN

marinated zucchini, squash, eggplant & portabella mushrooms, cucumbers, roasted red peppers, sprouts, mixed greens, garlic aioli & honey mustard

Would you say most of vegetables and fruit (fruits??) are variable nouns? Are there any exceptions?

Anonymous

Nouns

Mister Micawber

#302810 Mon, 11 Dec 06 02:17 PM

What is a 'variable noun'? A countable noun?

The choice between countable and uncountable forms once the fruit, vegetable, flesh or fowl becomes food or a meal is very much up to the mind of the speaker, in contradistinction to the primarily countable form they take as discrete living beings in garden or farmyard.

I can just as easily imagine the maitre d' producing the text of California Garden as:

marinated zucchinis, squash, eggplants & portabella mushrooms, cucumber, roasted red pepper, sprouts, mixed greens, etc.

Squash, mushrooms, sprouts and greens seem more resistant to change. A plural of squash is squash; greens has no singular; mushrooms and sprouts are relatively small entities which usually appear reasonably whole to us in most dishes.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (22,306)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Plurals, Nouns, Countable nouns